I joined the Dorset Pain Management Service in June 2018 as an Administrator for the Medical side of our service, based in the Central Admin Office.

I have been working for the NHS for 15 years. I joined the Dorset Pain Service 5 years ago as an admin assistant to the clinical staff in the West Team.  It is a position that I thoroughly enjoy and value the contact that I have with patients, this is on the telephone or in person.  Being part of a happy and helpful team that can genuinely help people to improve their quality of life is extremely rewarding.

I joined the Dorset Pain Management Service in August 2013. I have always enjoyed helping people and trying to help make a difference. I enjoy the daily challenges and being a part of a friendly, supportive and caring team.

 I enjoy being part of a team that are so passionate about helping people improve their quality of life, and I am excited to continue my role within the service. 

I have worked for the NHS for 13 years and joined the Dorset Pain Management Service in January 2022 as PA to Clinical Lead/Clinical Psychologist and 2 Pain Consultants.  I enjoy working for such a caring team knowing that our service can make such a difference to the quality of our patients’ lives.

I have been working in the field of pain management for over 10 years, initially with the pain consultants in Poole Hospital Chronic Pain Service and then transferring to the Community Pain Service in 2014. I have been nursing for over 25 years and feel passionate about helping people to manage their symptoms and improve their quality of life. I feel privileged to be team lead for the East team.

Hello, I’m Philippa and I have been lucky enough to be part of the Pain Service since January 2020. I have worked in the NHS for over 10 years and for 8 of those I have been qualified as Nurse.  My background is the acute hospital setting, palliative care and community nursing.  I have always been passionate about working with and supporting people. I feel privileged to be part of a team where we strive to educate, support and empower people in managing their pain conditions.

My name is Nicola. I qualified as an OT in 1999 and have since gained experience in acute settings. This role is an exciting change of direction for me and I am enjoying working within an individual and group setting to help people lead more meaning lives despite their ongoing pain difficulties.

I joined the Dorset Pain Management Service in early 2019. I have worked as an occupational therapist for 7 years across acute hospitals and in the community, gaining a lot of experience in acute and long term conditions. I've always had a passion for helping people to get the most out of life. I love my role as a pain clinician and occupational therapist as it allows me to get to know people better, uncover their values and collaboratively work towards their goals so they can achieve a better quality of life.

I joined the Dorset pain management service in July 2019. I started working for the NHS in January 2008. Within that time I have worked in a hospital setting, the community as O.T assistant, as a rehabilitation assistant and as a physiotherapy technical instructor, gaining a lot of experience in acute and long term conditions.

I really enjoy working within this service, taking a more holistic approach to pain, supporting clinicians in a variety of ways. I enjoy working with individuals and working in a group setting (which can be even done virtually) to enable people with pain to acquire new skills, confidence and knowledge to feel they can take back control of their lives again.

It is a privilege to work with the Dorset Pain Management Service to be a part of a friendly, supportive and caring team where learning and development never stops.

I have worked with the pain service for more than 10 years, and have seen my role develop in that time. The scientific developments in our understanding of pain, my own personal experiences, and the learning taken from working with many people living with pain has lead me to practice pain management from a very holistic perspective.  Outside of work I enjoy trying new experiences, as much as work and family life allow, such as tennis, walks in the countryside, and furniture upcycling.

I was a mature student when I trained for my degree and spent time working at Salisbury and Poole hospitals before landing my dream job here at the Dorset Pain Management Service! I have plenty of life experience under my belt before becoming a Physio, I have served in the Royal Navy, run my own business, worked for 8 years in Mental Health services and several years in community rehabilitation before I undertook my training. I am passionate about providing an effective service for people living with persistent pain and look forward to working with many of you to that end.

I joined the pain  team in 2020 after 20 years working in community rehabilitation in Poole as a neurological physiotherapist.  I love the team’s holistic approach and enjoy adding my experience to the mix. 

Working in the Health and Fitness industry since leaving school, led to my interest in rehabilitation. Although not always in a Physio context, I have supported people with their health, fitness and wellbeing for 25 years and I continue to teach classes. As a mature student, I trained as a Physiotherapist. I also work in Education, teaching Health & Social Care, encouraging the key attributes of ‘care’ when working in settings such as the NHS. As an Assistant, I worked with OT/Physios, delivering programmes for patients with conditions such as Fibromyalgia, RA, Lupus. This sparked my interest in Pain Management. My initial Physio training was in MSK and I feel I have found the perfect team to blend Physiotherapy, Pain Management and Education to support patients, with a holistic approach.

I have worked as a nurse for over 30 years, initially in General nursing though the majority of my career has specialised in working with adults experiencing mental health problems. For the last two years I have been privileged to work with the Dorset Community Pain Service team helping people to improve their self-management skills and work towards achieving personal goals.

As anxiety and distress can intensify the pain experience, my role as a Psychotherapist within the Dorset Pain Management Service could be to help people living with pain better understand what is contributing to their symptoms, lighten their load emotionally, and strengthen their coping strategies and skills.  As appropriate, therapy could include the use of EMDR for trauma-focused work, Interpersonal Therapy or an integrative approach, with CBT.  Nutrition and mental health is also an area of interest.  

My name is Caroline and I have been working in the NHS since 1991.  I have worked for DCPS since September 2017 and my role here is as a Psychological Therapist.  I am a Cognitive Analytic Therapist (CAT) and I am trained in EMDR and Mindfulness (MBSR).  I am passionate about helping people who are suffering with persistent pain to have a greater sense of wellbeing and live a valued and meaningful life in line with their values.  I work with people on a one to one basis and also with people who are participants in the pain management programmes.  I have a special interest in helping people with Fibromyalgia.  I work as one of the lead facilitators on the Fibromyalgia Pain Management Programmes which we run as part of DPMS.   

I've been working to help people with chronic pain management since 2001, initially as part of the Chronic Pain Management Service at Dorset County Hospital and have worked for the community service since its original launch in 2013. I'm a physiotherapist by profession and bring a wealth of experience to my role in order to help people understand more about the complexity of persistent pain, help them improve their relationship with their body and movement, improve their quality of life, develop coping strategies and work towards their goals.

I qualified as a clinical psychologist in 2013 and joined the pain service two years ago. I work across the West and North of the county helping people to adjust to living with persistent and finding ways to improve the quality of people’s lives. Helping people regain a sense of identity and purpose is extremely rewarding and I look forward to continuing to provide psychological interventions to people with persistent pain.

I’ve been sharing my passion and experience as a Mindfulness Practitioner within the Dorset Pain Management Service since 2013. Learning much from people living with pain as we go, I’ve seen how a Compassionate Mindfulness approach can transform our relationship to pain and associated suffering. 

Most people can benefit from this approach- which is not just about meditation, but also about how we can live with more awareness, kindness and choice in our everyday lives with pain.

I am trained to deliver the Breathworks Mindfulness courses, as well as the Mindful Self-Compassion course, and can work with you individually, or in a group. I have worked with patients across all localities, and with various pain conditions to build these resources and grow their resilience.

I’m also a registered Occupational Therapist (mental health), and I’m listed on the UK Network of Mindfulness Teachers Register, as meeting the national standards of training and good practice for Mindfulness Teachers.

I have been an Occupational Therapist for 30 years. I have worked mainly in community mental health and with people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME and, for the last 6 years, I have been working within the Dorset Pain Management Service . I am part of a multi-disciplinary team based in Littlemoor, Weymouth and work both individually with people and in groups. I really enjoy working alongside people to help them identify their values and strengths and move towards their goals, despite living with pain.

Hello my name is Sammy, and I am the Occupational Therapist working in the North of the County. I originally qualified as Social Worker, and spent 17 years working in a specialist field as a Probation Officer. I retrained as an Occupational Therapist, and since 2011 have been involved in supporting people with long term health conditions.

Having developed a chronic health condition myself, I have a genuine understanding of how it feels to have one’s life interrupted by illness, and having to manage it on a daily basis. I am a firm believer in self-management, and enjoy supporting people discover this in the context of their own lives.

I am delighted to be working in this service, and am passionate about empowering everyone to have purpose and meaning in their life, achieving the things that matter to them, and the best possible quality of life possible, irrespective of any health condition.  

I have been a qualified Nurse since 1991 and worked in a variety of settings in hospitals and community settings. I love working in pain management as it allows me to use my knowledge and skills to help patients to develop new and existing pathways in managing their pain and to help improve their functioning. My speciality is helping people understand more about how their medications help and/or hinder their progress and how these medications actually work in the body and brain. I look to work alongside patients in looking to make changes in their lifestyle.